Children's Home run by New Horizons (Stockport) Limited in Tameside

Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 1 Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private company. It provides care for up to 4 children who may have needs that relate to their disabilities and sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2025.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 22 October 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2025 Full Good 02/07/2024 Full Good 04/04/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/05/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 3

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Summary of findings

One child, who lived in the home for a significant period of their life, has moved out due to staff not having the skills and experience to meet their needs.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not follow children’s plans sufficiently, which has left children and staff at risk of harm.

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Summary of findings

There is insufficient detail in records relating to incidents when children have been held. Incidents involving physical restraint are not always rigorously and independently scrutinised to ensure the appropriateness of these measures.

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Summary of findings

There has been a high turnover of staff, resulting in instability in the home. This has had a negative impact on children’s experiences in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children currently living in the home have lived there for several years. Three children have been supported to remain settled in the home. However, one child moved out after the provider served notice following an escalation in incidents and staff being unable to safely meet their needs. The child had lived in the home for a significant period of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There has been a high turnover of staff and an increased use of agency staff. Consequently, children are cared for by adults with whom they are unfamiliar, which has contributed to increased instability in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to attend education. Staff work closely with professionals to ensure that consistent approaches are used to support children’s learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is a wide range of communication and sensory resources tailored to children’s individual preferences. However, staff do not consistently use visual aids to help children understand behaviours or to seek their views about the care they receive.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff do not have the skills to de-escalate incidents safely. Managers have identified shortfalls in staff practice on some occasions; however, learning from incidents is not always shared with the whole team. As a result, staff lack confidence when responding to children, which has contributed to an increase in incidents. Several staff members have left, and one child has had to move out of the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Children are not always offered the opportunity to talk about what happened following physical intervention. This prevents them from sharing their views about incidents and from developing an understanding of how they can behave differently in the future. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 4 Staff do not follow children’s plans, and the plans do not always reflect children’s current needs. When staff deviate from children’s plans, for example by reducing staffing levels, this is not agreed in advance or risk assessed. This leaves children and staff at risk of harm.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Incidents involving physical intervention with children are not always recorded. When they are recorded, the records lack sufficient detail, including the duration of the measure. One record was completed by the manager 4 weeks after the incident, by which time the staff member involved had left the organisation. This makes it difficult to determine whether physical interventions were appropriate and proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers are failing to provide staff with clear expectations for meeting children’s needs and keeping them safe. Staff are unable to apply the training they have received to ensure that they have the skills to manage children’s risks and vulnerabilities safely and effectively. Staff are not equipped with the necessary skills to de-escalate children’s behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Incidents are not always reviewed effectively by the manager or in a timely way. On one occasion, the manager reviewed a record of a physical intervention in which they had been involved. This means that incidents are not always rigorously and independently scrutinised to ensure that the measures are appropriate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings take place monthly and provide opportunities for the manager and staff to reflect on events in the home, training and development, and the care provided to children. Some language used during team meetings is unhelpful and could be perceived as blaming. This does not promote a positive learning culture or support staff in identifying how they could behave differently in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has a monitoring system in place to review children’s progress. An independent person visits the home regularly; however, their reports do not include sufficient information to enable the regulator to have oversight of the home. Additionally, children and families are rarely consulted to enable them to share their views on the care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not immediately informed the regulator of serious incidents in line with regulatory requirements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 5

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s plans are regularly reviewed and reflect their current needs and risks. 10 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 6 Additionally, the registered person must ensure that staff understand the plans for children and implement them effectively. When staff do not follow plans for children, the reason for this must be explored with them.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the necessary skills to meet children’s changing needs and that they fully understand the training, enabling them to implement it effectively and keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that physical interventions are recorded in sufficient detail and on the day of the incident and that these are reviewed by someone independent of the incident.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; 10 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 7 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff are provided with clear expectations about their roles and responsibilities in caring for children and keeping them safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have the opportunity to reflect and develop the quality of care provided to children. Where there are concerns about staff practice, these must be explored with the whole team of staff to enable them to develop a consistent approach to caring for children and keeping them safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there is a stable and sufficient staff team to care for children. When there is a need to use external staff, this should be carefully considered and managed to reduce the impact on children, helping them feel safe and settled.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that they review incidents in a timely manner.

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 10 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 8 ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s privacy will be respected and the circumstances when it may have to be limited;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

has access to the home’s children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(b)(i)(ii)

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children are given the opportunity to discuss their experience of being physically retrained, using their preferred method of communication, as soon as is practically possible, and within 5 days of the event.

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Requirement Due date

If a child dies, the registered person must without delay notify—

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Requirement Due date

the Secretary of State (if the Secretary of State is not the placing authority); 10 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 9 the local authority in whose area the children’s home is located (if that local authority is not the placing authority);

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Requirement Due date

the [F1integrated care board (established under Chapter A3 of Part 2] of the National Health Service Act 2006) for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

if the child was accommodated in a secure children’s home, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales (“the PPO”); and

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Requirement Due date

If a child accommodated in a secure children’s home dies, the registered person must allow the PPO to investigate the death by—

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Requirement Due date

allowing the PPO to take away from the premises, securely, copies of any documents or records provided under sub- paragraph (a)(ii); and

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, allowing the PPO to interview in private any children, parents or relatives, or persons working at the home.

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Requirement Due date

If there is a referral of a person working in the home pursuant to section 35 (Regulated activity providers: duty to refer) of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 M1, the registered person must without delay notify—

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 10 an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

In this regulation, references to the PPO include a person appointed by, or working on behalf of, the PPO for the purposes of an investigation under paragraph (2).

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(ii)(b) (6))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they notify HMCI immediately when there is an allegation made against a person working in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person— 10 October 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 11 if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the independent person is supported to obtain feedback from children, their families and external professionals and that the report includes details of incidents that occurred during the month of the visit.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Horizons (Stockport) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 154 to 156 Buxton Road High Lane, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 8EA

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Inspector

Sarah Probert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2591888 13 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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